A Place Called Hiroshima

by Betty Jean Lifton, Eikoh Hosoe (Photographer)

Graphically shows in photographs and in interviews made in 1967 and 1984 the effects of the bombing on the city and its people

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Japanese Literature

151 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Betty Jean (BJ) Lifton, PhD, was a writer and adoption counselor, who was one of the leading advocates of adoption reform. She is an authority on the psychology of the adopted child, birth parents, and adoptive parents, as well as the complexity of search and reunion.

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange book that succeeds at some of what it tries to do, but fails because of some stylistic choices.

Lifton's writing focuses on how life has returned to the city of Hiroshima, and how people have made a life out of a place made infamous for death. It utilizes vignettes of different individuals to tell an emotionally compelling story about the tragedy and long-term consequences of nuclear warfare. Most of these stories is well curated and described. Lifton's lifetime work with adoption and children shines through, as the book is specifically concerned with the struggles of children. One family, including a son with mental disabilities, is particularly affecting.

Complementing these personal narratives are Eikoh Hosoe's spectacular images, which really shine and bring the individuals' stories to life. My favorite photo in the entire book is one of the family I mentioned above, as the father carries his son down the street, with a giant grin on the boy's face. It beautifully captures the joy made in the horrific wake and consequences of the atomic bomb. Hosoe's work is the best part of the book by far.

The clearest issue is the writing style. Lifton uses a second-person POV to write: "You walk down the street. You see the building. You consider the horror. You shudder at the thought. etc." This style aims to make the concepts of the book more in-your-face and personal, but feels very distracting and makes for some stranger sentences when past events are discussed. The style would be far better in the third, or even first, person POV.

Additionally, the book heavily reflects its publication date. Lifton constantly tells the reader versions of, "You think about how much stronger the current atomic bombs are, and how bad it would be if they were used now." These appeals are used often enough to be distracting, pull from the narrative, de-center the victims at the core of the book's idea, and are less effective at commenting on the bomb's horror than simply focusing on Hiroshima.

On the whole, though, a very solid account of how those who live in Hiroshima today and how they have confronted the legacy of the bomb.

[Bill Kalberer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a profoundly cerebral photographic essay that documents the enduring, multi-generational aftermath of atomic devastation. Lifton’s narration and Hosoe’s haunting photographs capture the lives of the hibakusha (bomb-affected people), who faced severe physical frailties early in life yet displayed incredible bravery. The book notes that while survivors were eventually granted free medical care at the famous Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Hospital, their struggles did not end with them. Crucially, the authors highlight the ongoing legacy of radiation, profiling the hibakusha nisei (second-generation survivors) and hibakusha sansei (third-generation descendants) who carry the genetic anxiety of the blast.This moving collaboration serves as a stark warning. It forces us to ask a fundamental question: if humanity could truly look into the future and perceive the real consequences of its’ actions, would we still choose paths of destruction? Ultimately, this book stands as a powerful testament to why the world must do everything in its’ power to ensure this historical tragedy is never repeated.

[Scot · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems appropriate to read this book today August sixth, as it is the seventy fifth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

It may not be technically the best book ever written as pointed out by other reviews. But the subject material and the moving photos present a book not to be looked over.

Please take an hour and read this if you have a chance. War has many consequences and I fear we have forgotten lessons of the past.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, Lefton's prose sounds very much like Duras' screenplay for Hiroshima mon amour, Alain Resnais' 1959 film. Thus, this feels almost like a continuation of that universe, only with still pictures instead of moving pictures. So maybe Hiroshima mixed together with Chris Marker's La jetée? Either way, if you found yourself enjoy Duras' dreamy/poetic prose, you'll likely enjoy this, too.

[marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories in this book are moving and beautiful, but the book has absolutely no structure. It also drives me absolutely crazy when an author writes a nonfiction text in the voice 'you talk to her daughter' 'you do this' 'you do that.' No I don't! That's you the author doing those things! And finally, I realize this is an older book, but where did all these great stories really come from? From all those 'you's I assume that you spoke to them and interviewed them yourself, but you could tell me that...

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand what the author tried to do by setting the book in second person ("you walk down the street"), but even though it might seem like a good way to make the reader feel as if he's really there, people generally don't write in second person for a reason. It just doesn't work.

The vignettes in the book are moving, and the photography effective. I just can't get past the second person narrative.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Place Called Hiroshima is a pictorial view of Hiroshima today and some of the survivors of the atomic bomb dropped there on August 6th, 1945. The authors cry for peace and disarmament by revealing the lasting effects (medically, emotionally, and politically) of the bomb on the people who were there as well as their children, and their children's children.